A Busy Week

Hello, all. I have a small recap here. I am super-busy this week and last week because of finals. I just submitted all of the semester grades except one (I’m a glutton for punishment and gave someone an extreme extension), so I am pretty much done with that. I just got back from Trader Joe’s to get some stocking-stuffer type gifts and I lit the Bath and Body Works Cranberry Woods candle, lit the tree, and wrapped some presents. After, I am going to make homemade chicken soup with bone broth, kale, and white beans. It’ll be pretty cozy in here.

So, last Monday was my thyroid biopsy. Oh my goodness, it was so incredibly uncomfortable and painful. My neck was sore for several days afterward and there is still some residual soreness now.

I got the amazing new Wednesday that it is benign! The nodule itself is so big that I really anticipated bad news, so I couldn’t be more grateful. I am still working with doctors to figure out what else is going on with my body, because I still am experiencing anxiety, headaches, and that sort of off feeling daily.

The rest of the week was fairly uneventful. I am continuing to eat as healthy as possible and I am avoiding added sugars, gluten, and dairy. Standard meals are usually vegetables, a lean protein, carbs in the form of vegetables, like sweet potatoes, and healthy fats, like coconut oil and avocado.

Saturday was my paternal grandmother’s annual Christmas party. My mom and I went shopping a couple weeks back and she got me this pretty adorable outfit that I think is a perfect Christmas outfit.

Every year since we were kids, she hosts a party at her house and cooks a delicious Italian pasta dinner with meatballs, sausage, garlic bread, and salad. Her sauce is so delicious, and I did allow myself a little pasta–the first time I’d eaten gluten in a while. I didn’t have any bad reactions to it, though, so that was good. I have always loved all her Christmas decorations, particularly these little globes. They change color in the dark and are mesmerizing and relaxing to watch.

After dinner, everyone gathers in the living room to exchange presents. My cousin lives four hours away and this is the first year in a while that he made it, so I was really glad to spend some time with him.

After we exchange gifts, we have dessert and coffee. They always have Italian cookies, cannoli, cheesecake, and a pistachio dessert. We all hung out for a while.

On my way home, I stopped to pick up some Christmas cards and wrote them all out. It was nice laying by the tree while writing them. Julian and I stayed up pretty late. He was watching UFC fights and I was reading. My sleep schedule has been weird ever since I started feeling sick, but any time I feel a little bit better, I try to cling to the moment and enjoy it.

Sunday, I woke up and cleaned out my refrigerator. I scrubbed all the shelves and then went to Aldi for a weekly grocery haul. I got tons of produce: strawberries, bananas, blueberries, raspberries, cucumber, kale, mixed greens, celery, carrots, spaghetti squash, green beans, apples, kiwi, avocados, and broccoli. I also got some mint chocolate dessert hummus, bone broth, and chopped walnuts. I decided to bake some protein muffins with walnuts and dark chocolate chips and then I made peanut butter cookie dough balls.

These were so good and tasted almost like a Perfect Bar! All I did was combine one cup of peanut butter, 1/4 cup of honey, 1/4 cup coconut flour, one teaspoon vanilla extract, one teaspoon cinnamon, a little sea salt, and dark chocolate chips. They freeze well, too.

Later, I went to my best friend’s house to catch up. I have barely seen her with all the craziness of work, school, and life. She got little sweaters for her dogs and they looked so cute!

Dinner was a quick Jason’s Deli order. I got the salmon sandwich with guacamole on gluten-free bread and steamed veggies.

Yesterday, I worked all day, went to the gym for a light workout, came home and graded, and made a dinner of salmon, zucchini, and broccoli. Today, we had a Christmas lunch at work. I ordered grilled chicken with green beans and mashed potatoes. Thursday, we’re having a pot luck and I am making homemade chocolate chip banana bars. It will be a busy week! It’s been hard for me since I feel so weird all the time, but I will continue to push forward as I always do. I hope you all are having a good week and good luck with all your holiday activities.